Grand Duke’s Beloved Granddaughter

She stood in front of the mirror and looked at the pendant hanging around her neck.

“Did you talk to me?”

It was funny thinking to herself that she was talking to the pendant, but she was the only one in the room anyway and she really wanted to see if the other person had the pendant, so she spoke to the pendant without hesitation.

[That’s right. I spoke to you, human child.]

A voice echoed in her head, and the snake in the pendant blinked. All of her guesses seemed correct.

“How did this happen? Is the snake in the pendant you?”

The snake’s eyes twinkled when she asked.

[Right. This body is Vivre, the guardian dragon of Goddess Duana. In the land where the Goddess’ protection reaches, you must have heard of my name, don’t you know?]

“Vivre?”

She had heard of it somewhere. The guardian who becomes the hands and feet of the goddess Duana was in the form of a snake. Of course, it was no ordinary snake. The body of a long white snake, red eyes resembling rubies, and large white wings. That was the characteristic of Vivre, the guardian dragon of Duana mentioned in mythology. But she was suspicious. Why was the guardian dragon of some goddess imprisoned inside the pendant, and why the white skin wings characteristic of the guardian dragon Vivre did not exist in the picture of the snake in the pendant?

“Well, but why are you, the guardian dragon of the goddess, imprisoned in the pendant?”

[There was an unavoidable situation. There was a very big war with the evil dragon. Trust me, human child. I really am the guardian dragon Vivre.]

While she was making a sad expression, the pendant revealed that it was the guardian dragon, Vivre. But there was no strength in his voice. He answered himself and seemed to think that she would not believe him. Self-proclaimed Vivre closed her eyes for a long time before opening them. What Fleon was talking about must have been the guardian dragon, Vivre. The temple of Goddess Duana, the future saint Pleon who was waiting for her, and the pendant necklace that was supposedly sealed with the goddess Duana’s guardian dragon Vivre that Pleon delivered to her.

She said it as if she was not very trustworthy, but when she thought of her previous experience and the death of Pleon, she thought that he must really be the guardian dragon Vivre.

“Yes, Vivre. For now, since you say so, I’ll believe you.”

There was no other way to verify it right now, so she had no choice but to believe it. And it didn’t matter too much if the snake in the pendant wasn’t the real Vivre. Even if it were simply a magic artifact with a spiritual being trapped inside, it would be of some use.

Usually, there was a lot of knowledge, or it was a way to increase magical efficacy, but what kind of ability did this pendant really have? At first, she rejected the pendant because she was too reluctant, but now that she had it on her neck like this, she wondered why. If she had known it was something like a magic artifact, she would have tried it earlier.

“So, what was the reason Saint Pleon gave you to me? According to the Holy Son, they say that you can resolve my curiosity.”

When she asked, Vivre took a moment to catch its breath.

[That’s right. I have the answers to all your questions.]

Unlucky, Vivre blinked his eyes twice.

[First of all, you might be wondering why you returned to the past after death. Right?]

She wasn’t really curious, but she nodded her head anyway, thinking it wouldn’t be bad to listen now that she could hear the reason.

“I want to hear it. Can you talk to me?”

[You were able to return because the traces of the evil dragon, Crypso, were left on you.]

“…what?”

Not understanding Vivre’s words, she tilted his head. Evil Dragon Crypso? She sweared, she had never encountered a dragon, even though she had gone to subjugate monsters. In the first place, she thought dragons were legends. A fictional being that did not exist in reality and could only be seen in legends. And there was only one reason why she believed dragons didn’t exist.

It was because she had never met a dragon while wandering around as a mercenary, nor had she met anyone who had ever met a dragon. But to say that she returned to the past because there were traces of the dragon left behind. Besides, that dragon wasn’t an ordinary dragon, was it a bad dragon? Well, did it mean that it was a dragon that kidnaped the princess like in the fairy tale?

Even thinking about it, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter. The more she talked to Vivre, the less she wanted to talk.

[Human child, you were killed by humans under the control of the evil dragon Crypso.]

As she was perplexed, Vivre added so, and hearing that, she felt an interest that she hadn’t felt before. He said that the person who killed me was a human under the control of the evil dragon, Crypso. And she was killed by Daniel Crichton, who betrayed Prince Crichton. That said, it was a story that Daniel might have some connection with the evil dragon Crypso or something. But even that was still only abstract.

She used to trust nothing but what she had seen herself. Although Daniel tried to take away the Grand Duke of Crichton, the scale itself was too different. Did he even sacrifice his soul to the evil dragon in order to claim the Grand Duke’s family? Somehow, the situation was not pictured in her head.

“Could you elaborate? What is an evil dragon, and what about people who are ruled by evil dragons?”

[Before that, I have something to ask you. If you hear all the stories I tell you, won’t you listen to my one request?]

“What is your request?”

What did Vivre want to ask of her? She didn’t think he’s asking her to kill even the evil dragons. Although she made a big name as a mercenary at a young age, she wasn’t good enough to handle dragons. If that’s the case, it’s not the young her, but it would be right to find someone who handled the sword better and was more proficient than her, and who was stronger. And the person who could meet that condition was not her, but the current Brian or the future Elliot. Or was it about Jeffrey, who even earned the title of Mercenary King? Well, if it was her before the regression, she might be able to provide support. It wasn’t to the level of Mercenary King Geoffrey, Brian, or Elliot, but he still had a fairly high level of skill. The reason why she received the request from Grand Duke of Crichton in the first place was because she was well known among the mercenaries active in the Empire.

“I’m sorry, but if it’s about killing a bad dragon, that’s a no-go.”

[I’m glad. My request is not to kill the evil dragon!]

She was relieved by the bright voice. However, she had no choice but to harden her face again at Vivre’s words.

[You can’t kill a dragon, poor human child. Dragons don’t die. However, he only seals the power and puts it to rest.]

“What do you mean?”

[Please stop the evil dragon Crypso from breaking the seal on my behalf!]

Vivre asked her in a clear voice. But it was absurd.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have the strength or the time to do that.”

When she cut it off and refused, Vivre gave a sullen look and whimpered.

[But, this might be what you want too.]

“If you were the one who sent me back to the past, you would know very well that I was a mercenary in the past, yes?”

[You are talking about the time when you received the goods and did the work for me.]

“Yeah, that’s right. And while I was a mercenary, I established one iron rule. I want to do as much work as I get paid. But to stop the evil dragon from being unsealed, there’s no way that’s possible.”

[…]

Vivre remained silent when she questioned him out of embarrassment. She thought it was because he had nothing more to say, so she was about to take off the pendant, but Vivre spoke to her again.

[Human child, what you want is revenge. Isn’t that so?]

The hand that was about to take off the pendant necklace stopped at Vivre’s words.

[Then I can’t help but talk about this. Why did I chose you? The reason why I brought you to the past.]

“What is that?”

When she asked him with the feeling of trying to find out, Vivre blinked.

[The person who wants to break the seal of the evil dragon, Crypso, is a human named Daniel Crichton.]

Since the person who killed her was said to have been ruled by the evil dragon Crypso, she guessed that Daniel might have something to do with it. However, Vivre was not only a person related to it, but also a person who tried to release the seal of the evil dragon himself…

[Those who are ruled by evil dragons refer to such people. Those who try to unseal the evil dragon. I’m not asking you to kill the dragon. Just keep the evil dragon Crypso’s seal from breaking. If that doesn’t work, please seal it again.]

Vivre spoke to her in a desperate voice. It sounded like an important issue, so she quietly listened to Vivre’s words. And after hearing all the words, the rough situation was drawn in her head.

“In short, Vivre, what you want is to stop Daniel, right? For that, you sent me back to the past after I died at the hands of Daniel.”

She asked Vivre to confirm.

[That’s right! If you stop him, you can also block the seal of the evil dragon, Crypso!]

Vivre’s voice was full of hope. She let go of her hand trying to unfasten the pendant necklace and stared into the mirror.

“Then what can you give me?”